Tag Archives: landmark

The historic Regional Treatment Center tower, close to the county government services center in northwest Fergus Falls, will be preserved while other sections of the RTC complex will be part of deconstruction. Tom Hintgen/Otter Tail County Correspondent.

The city of Fergus Falls is seeking $8.9 million from the state legislature to complete deconstruction on remaining sections of the RTC campus which includes 550,000 square feet of space on the northside of Fergus Falls. The Regional Treatment Center was originally built in 1890 by the state of Minnesota to house 3,500 patients with mental illness. During the 1950s and 1960s that number was reduced to close to 2,000 residents, cared for by 500 state employees.

It soon became one of the most noticeable, iconic roadside landmarks after ‘landing’ in 1947. But now, the World War Two heavy bomber that long stood watch over Milwaukie, Oregon has been removed for restoration, unlikely ever to return to its rather odd occupation as a gas station awning.

“As the building nears the end of its second century in use, its owners, First Parish Church, UCC, invite proposals for a new chapter in the life of this historic treasure,” the RFP reads.

Built in 1831, the building known as the Sound Avenue Grange Hall “has been in almost constant use as a vibrant center of civic and social life. For most of its life, the Grange Hall has been the de facto community center for the three-centuries’-old farm community along Sound Avenue. As the community’s needs for a social gathering place have gradually altered, First Parish Church seeks to repurpose the building for relevant community use,” the RFP states.